POLISH RADIO SZCZECIN IN THE POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE OF SZCZECIN IN 1945-1949 (Polskie Radio Szczecin w zyciu politycznym, spolecznym i kulturalnym Szczecina w latach 1945-1949)

The end of the Second World War resulted in a shift of the Polish frontiers to the west and thus the incorporation of Western Pomerania. The authorities now faced the necessity of repopulating and developing the newly gained terrains as quickly as possible. Since an unquestioned part was played by the broadcasting service, building a radio network for the northern and western parts of the country became mandatory. Thanks to a special team from the Pomeranian Regional Head Office of Polish Radio in Bydgoszcz it became possible already in 1945 to set into motion a radio relay centre, which, with the help of loudspeakers installed in the city squares, broadcast the first communiqués and announcements. Several months later, the officially opened Szczecin radio station became the first Polish station in the western and northern territories. For numerous new residents of Szczecin the mother tongue heard in the receivers became tangible proof that Szczecin was a truly Polish town. In the first post-war years Szczecin Radio fulfilled a political function and acted as a propagator of Polish culture. It was exactly due to the station and its staff that settlers arriving in Western Pomerania and Szczecin were capable of adopting themselves to a culturally alien environment. The Szczecin station became an important cultural centre in the city and attracted the most prominent men of letters, poets and musicians. The Congress of the Polish Writer's Accociation held in Szczecin in January 1949, the increasingly strong onslaught of Stalinism in many domains of life and the partial exchange of employees comprise a caesura that initiated a new period in the life of the station, subjected to a much stronger political impact.